Australian treasurer Joe Hockey says the G20 delegates are united on finding agreement on a growth target. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Federal treasurer, Joe Hockey, feels there is a collective intention to get real outcomes at this weekend’s Group of 20 meeting.

Hockey is hosting finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s major economies in Sydney, the first gathering under Australia’s 2014 presidency of the G20.

“I have a great sense of hope that this G20 ... meeting will be able to lay down a real and tangible framework,” Hockey said on Saturday. “There is a general mood of intention to deliver real outcomes.”

Hockey is holding bilateral meetings before the conference proper in the afternoon where there will be a detailed discussion on the global economy.

Delegates are fully aware of the challenges facing the global economy and the level of volatility in international financial markets, he said.

A number of high-profile delegates - including International Monetary Fund chief, Christine Lagarde, and UK chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne - have thrown their support behind Hockey’s aim of reaching an agreement on a growth target.

The target is above the IMF’s global growth forecast of 3.7 per cent for this year.

Support for the idea is “building” but there is also some reluctance to have a target, he said.

Delegates will attend a working dinner on Saturday evening to discuss infrastructure and how to facilitate private investment to fuel economic growth.

Those deliberations will feed into Sunday’s opening session on growth strategies.

Other topics will be financial regulation, IMF reform and international taxation.

Hockey will release the G20 communique on Sunday afternoon.

“There is much work to be done but the level of commitment from ministers and central bank governors is impressive,” he said.